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DTE Energy, Michigan's largest electricity supplier, on Tuesday announced plans for a dramatic transformation of its power generation — an 80% reduction in carbon emissions and the shuttering of all of its coal-fired power plants by 2050.

The $15 billion proposal would leave customers of the nation's seventh-largest energy utility receiving 40% of their power from new, natural gas-fired power plants; 40% from renewable energy, made possible by a dramatic increase in primarily wind power; and 20% from nuclear, the company's existing Fermi II nuclear plant.

"Climate change is a big deal — I think it's the defining policy issue of our era; certainly for the energy industry, it is the defining policy issue," said DTE Chairman and CEO Gerry Anderson. "Both I personally and the senior leadership of this company believe we have a responsibility, and believe the country has a responsibility, to address this."

"Canada's auditor general blasted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government Tuesday for effectively blocking an audit of efforts to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies in the fight against climate change.Canada committed at a G20 summit in 2009 "to phase out and rationalize over the medium term inefficient fossil fuel subsidies," setting a target date of 2025 last year with continental free trade partners Mexico and the United States, Auditor General Michael Ferguson noted in his report.But Ferguson said the finance ministry, which was tasked with identifying subsidies, refused to hand over key documents for analysis, citing cabinet confidentiality.Ferguson said he therefore was unable to determine whether the Trudeau administration was acting on its commitments, despite having championed the fight against climate change on the global stage."

Like most climate schemes, the only important metric is the feeling of smug superiority.